Oh, Brother!
by Lentex
Summary: After acting too rough, Lynn causes Lincoln to hit his head, subsequently making him lose nearly all of his memories in the process. The Loud sisters vow to help Lincoln gain his memory back, but this proves to be more difficult than expected.
1. Rock and a Hard Place

**I'd like to say this up front; this will not be a Lincoln torture story. This fanfiction will first and foremost explore the idea of Lincoln's sisters doing everything that they possibly can to help their brother in a time of need. So, this will be quite the opposite of a torture fic, if you think about it.**

 **This is no satire. There will be no crazy subplots. The story will not change drastically halfway through. I'm putting forward my best effort here, and I hope that you, dear reader, will see this reflected in this story. Above all else, though, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Leni, I'm open!"

The brown, spiral pigskin flew through the air, twirling all the way before landing in Lincoln's hands. He grabbed the football, faltered a bit, but was able to quickly regain his balance and continue his charge down to the other end of the Loud residence backyard.

There was nobody in his way. The end was in sight. Within a few seconds, Lincoln knew that he would be scoring his first point since the start of the game. He stole a look backward, only to see Lynn fast approaching him. She looked determined. Still, Lincoln had plenty of space between him and his older sister. He'd make it.

" _Touchdown!_ " In a display of celebration, Lincoln threw the football on the ground as hard as he could, watching it bounce into the air before landing back on the grass. Lynn, who had stopped her charge by now, crossed her arms and glared at her brother in anger.

"Yeah, congratulations. You scored _one_ point, Lincoln."

"Lynn!", cried Leni, throwing her hands up. "This game is for _fun._ Calm down!"

Lynn huffed.

The Loud siblings, save for Lola (who didn't want to get her dress dirty), Lisa (who was too busy to step away from her work), and Lily (who was an infant) were in the backyard playing a friendly game of touch football. The match had started with Lynn recruiting Lincoln to simply pass the ball back and forth with her, but more and more sisters joined, and eventually, a game was born. The score was a tight nine to eight, with Lincoln's team being now only one point away from victory; the first to ten would win.

Lynn gritted her teeth as she and her team settled into place for the next play.

"Hike!", cried Lana, throwing the ball behind her.

Lucy caught the ball, and, looking around for somebody to pass to, saw that Lincoln was the only one open. Throwing with all her might, the little goth girl managed to hurl the ball over the heads of Lori, Luna and Luan. Lincoln jumped, reaching out to grab the football— he clasped his hands together, securing the pigskin, before turning around and starting to make his way to the opposite end of the field. He was about to score his second touchdown in a row.

No.

Lynn wasn't going to let Lincoln win the game, nor was she going to let him score _another_ touchdown. _She_ was family sports pro, not _him_ ; she couldn't allow herself to sit idly by while Lincoln outmatched her at her at football.

With a newfound confidence, Lynn increased her speed, kicking up dirt and grass behind her as she sprinted. She was heading straight for Lincoln. The athlete gritted her teeth as she fast approached her brother.

 _Slam!_

It happened so quickly. Lynn body slammed into Lincoln, her vision momentarily going black in the process. She faltered backward, dizzy, rubbing her eyes.

Lynn hit like a dumpster truck, and this was made apparent as Lincoln flew through the air, his body resembling the shape of a sideways 'V'. With a loud cry, he landed the ground, dropping the ball in the process. It slowly rolled across the ground, away from him.

Lincoln's world became blurry. He had always thought characters in cartoons were overreacting when they got hit by something heavy and began to see stars floating around their head, but, now, beginning to see it first hand, those cartoons became a lot more realistic for Lincoln.

Just as he started to sit up and rub his head, he heard screams.

"Lynn! _No!_ "

As he looked up, Lincoln saw his athletic sister hurling through the air, coming straight at him. Time began to move slowly. Lincoln studied Lynn's face; she looked angry, her eyes pooled with obvious lust for revenge. She smiled.

Screams, coming from his other sisters, could not even break him out of his trance, no matter how loud they may have been, and, they _were_ loud.

The impact was even worse than he expected. Lynn landed on top of Lincoln, body slamming him and causing his head to crash back to the earth, connecting with a large rock.

That was the last thing he remembered before his world went black.

* * *

The Loud children, save for Lynn, were gathered in the living room. No one dared to speak. The television was turned on to _The Audition_ , one of the Loud children's favorite shows, and, yet, nobody was really paying attention. All they could focus on at the moment was Lincoln. Was he going to be okay? How bad was he hurt? When could they see him?

Up in her room, Lynn was laying down on her bed. She stared up at her ceiling. Guilt was an unwelcome yet overwhelming presence inside of her mind.

She hurt Lincoln. Her baby brother. Her harmless, dorky baby brother. Lynn knocked him unconscious. And, to make matters worse, the incident happened because of a _backyard football game_. What kind of a _monster_ was she? Why did it take her until _after_ he got hurt to realize she was going too far?

Lynn felt like she was trying to crush an aluminum can with her stomach. She was biting her nails, but didn't realize just how far she was going until she accidentally sunk her teeth into her skin, causing the warm taste of blood to fill her mouth.

" _Ow!_ ", she whisper-yelled to herself.

 _No,_ she thought. _Don't feel bad. You deserve_ _this._

Directly following her tackle of Lincoln, her parents had both rushed out into the backyard, summoned by the loud screams of her sisters. It wasn't a pretty picture. Lynn Sr. and Rita had rushed over to Lincoln, shaking him, trying to wake him up. It was no use. He was knocked out.

Her memory was fuzzy on the details of what happened next; it all happened so quickly. Lynn remembered standing back, watching everything unfold. Her father and mother had picked Lincoln up, saying that there was no time to call an ambulance. Within moments, Lynn Sr. had put Lincoln in Vanzilla, told Lori that she was in charge, and, before anyone could protest, drove off in a frenzy.

Nobody said anything to Lynn since then. Nothing needed to be said. She knew for a fact that they were all extremely angry with her, and rightfully so. Now, sitting on her bed, Lynn could only curse herself. No matter how much she wanted to, it was impossible for her to go back in time and stop herself from acting like a mean, brutish idiot to her little brother. The deed was done, and she would have to live with this guilt for the rest of her life.

 _I knocked Lincoln unconscious… over a stupid football game… what kind of monster am I?_

While she was unable to go back in time and correct her mistake, the one thing Lynn knew she _could_ do was make things better. She sat up and wiped away a tear.

 _When Lincoln gets back, I'm going to be the best damn sister he ever had. That's a promise._

* * *

Lynn Sr. and Rita sat on either side of the hospital bed, their eyes set firmly on Lincoln. They hoped with all of their heart that at any second, he would wake up, and life would go on as normal.

The doctor had said that he was knocked unconscious and needed rest, but ultimately, would most likely be fine. This calming news helped to calm the nerves of the Loud parents, but, still, did not go very far in killing their off worry. Their son was hurt; they would not rest until they knew he was fully back to normal. It had been an entire two hours since he was attacked by Lynn.

Lincoln's eyes began to open.

"He's awake!"

"Oh, thank _God!_ "

Two pairs of warm, gentle arms wrapped around the boy, locking him in a tight embrace.

"Lincoln, we were so worried!" Rita began to sob.

The Loud father smiled. "Son, I'm _so_ glad you're okay." He sniffled. "There's some people waiting outside who would like to talk to you."

Lincoln was in a daze, hardly registering what was happening around him. He didn't speak; the boy only gave an uncertain nod without even realizing that he was doing so.

Lynn Sr. walked across the room and opened the door. "He's awake, girls," Lincoln heard him say. "You can come in now." Immediately after, the room was flooded with all ten Loud sisters, each one eagerly scurrying over to Lincoln and crying out in joy.

"We were worried sick about you, Lincoln!"

"O-M-Gosh! I'm _so_ glad you're okay!"

"Lincoln's awake!"

Everything was happening so quickly. Lincoln had little to no time to react before he was being hugged once again. This time, though, it was coming from twelve people instead of just two.

Before long, everyone stepped back, ending the group hug. Lynn shuffled forward, looking at the ground with guilt evident on her face.

"L-Lincoln…" she started. "I'm _so_ sorry… I got so heated over a stupid football game… I lost control. I have no one to blame but myself." She looked up, staring Lincoln directly in the eyes. He looked back at her, confused. Lynn saw that he was in a daze, barely registering what was happening around him. Was he angry? "You probably hate my guts right now, huh?"

Lincoln squinted his eyes, confused.

"What? No, it's not... that… just, uh, who are you?"


	2. People and Places

The car ride back home was dead silent.

Lincoln stared out the window, watching Royal Woods pass by. He felt like he was on a vacation in a foreign land. Even when he passed the arcade, the mall, and his own school, places that he visited hundreds of times before and used to know like the back of his hand, no memories surfaced.

Lincoln sat in the middle of the van. Behind him, Lynn couldn't help but to not stare ahead at her brother. Back in the hospital room, when he first said that he had no memory of her, the athlete thought that he was joking. How could her own little brother forget about her? He's known her all of his life, after all. _Luan has to be behind this,_ she thought. As Lynn continued to talk to Lincoln, however, the dark, grim reality started to dawn on her. Lincoln had no idea who she was. Lynn might as well have been a random person plucked from off of the street; her brother would have known her just as well as the stranger.

It wasn't just Lynn, either. Each and every Loud sister gathered around, trying to refresh Lincoln's memory, but to no avail.

"Don't you remember me, Lincoln? You help me write poems all the time!"

"Male sibling, do you mean to tell me that you are unable to educe even a _minuscule_ memory of myself?"

"Don't tell me you forgot _me_ Lincoln! It's _Lola!_ I'm your favorite sister!"

Lincoln could only frown and shake his head. "No… I'm… I'm sorry."

The doctor had said that memory loss was not an uncommon side effect of concussions, and that even minor bumps to the head could cause such an event. It certainly didn't help that Lincoln was only eleven, or that he hit his head on a hard rock, either. It would be a few weeks before he'd recover; even then, the doctor said that there was a chance that his mind could be permanently altered.

In all her years of playing sports, Lynn had been hit, tackled, bruised, punched, knocked around, and pounded; she had had her hair pulled, she had been scratched, and she was even bitten a couple of times.

Still, despite all of that, the news that the doctor gave the family hurt much, much more than any injury she had suffered before. And, the worst part?

It was _all_ her fault.

* * *

Lincoln was the first one to enter the house. His entire family followed slowly behind him, watching to see if his childhood home elicited any memory from him.

It did not. As Lynn Sr. opened the front door, letting Lincoln walk inside, the boy didn't feel at home at all. Despite the fact that he had walked through the front door thousands of times, doing so this time around felt like a new experience for Lincoln. He looked around; he felt unfamiliar with the structure and layout of the house. It might as well have been his first time in the Loud residence.

"So, son…" said the Loud father, his voice shaking. "Do you feel at home?"

Although his memory was in shambles, Lincoln's kind-heartedness and honesty were still very much intact. He wasn't about to lie.

"No… I'm sorry, Dad."

Any sense of hopefulness on the Loud father's face faded away.

"I… I think I'm going to go to my room for a little."

"Alright, Lincoln," said Rita, her bottom lip quivering. She held Lily in her arms, shaking the baby back and forth; even the infant knew that something was wrong. The atmosphere of the living room was tense. People spoke softly. There was an overarching sense of uneasiness surrounding the entire family. "D-Dinner will be ready in about an hour."

Lincoln nodded, and turned around, taking one last look at his so-called family before heading upstairs. At the hospital, he spoke with his mother and father about his situation. He learned that his name was Lincoln Loud, he was eleven years old, and, apparently, he had ten sisters. Wow. With that many siblings, why was it so _hard_ to remember even one thing about them?

At the top of the stairs, Lincoln looked around, confused, before turning back around.

"Uh, which one is my room?"

" _Oh, God,_ " Lynn whispered to herself without even realizing she was doing so. Seeing Lincoln unable to find his own room, and knowing that it was all her fault, was not an easy thing for her to watch.

"End of the hall!", yelled Luan.

Lincoln nodded before turning around and walking right.

Rita stifled a chuckle. Even without his memories, Lincoln was still the same lovable doofus. "Other way, sweetie!"

"Sorry!"

When Lincoln was out of sight, Lynn Sr. turned to face Lynn Jr. The father simply pointed upstairs; he didn't need to say anything. Lynn knew that she would be grounded to her room for a long, long time. Forget sports. Forget her teams. Forget life as she knew it.

Forget… there would be a lot of forgetting in the Loud House happening in the coming weeks.

 _Damn them all,_ thought Lynn. Normally, getting kicked off of her sport teams would spell the end of the world for the young athlete. Now, however, in the wake of her brother's injuries… she really couldn't care less.

Walking up the stairs, she knew that she deserved this.

* * *

Even though he didn't remember his living room, Lincoln thought that he might have a bit more luck with memories of his own bedroom.

He was wrong.

No matter what he did, no memories would surface. Lincoln laid down on his bed, trying to get comfortable like he may have done every night before his concussion. He rummaged through his dresser, looking at his clothes and possessions. He booted up his laptop, looking through his files. Nothing he did helped; it was no different than being in a complete stranger's room.

Sitting on his bed, Lincoln noticed that his door was slightly ajar. He may not have any long-term memories, but his short-term memories were on par— he could have sworn that he had just closed it.

Upon closer inspection, Lincoln saw several pairs of eyes looking through at him. He chuckled.

Outside of the door, every Loud sister with the exception of Lynn was trying their best to look into Lincoln's room. Of course, this proved to be difficult with nine different people doing so at the same time.

When they saw Lincoln look back at them and chuckle, the big blob of sisters gathered around the door quickly dispersed. Everybody scurried away at least a few feet from Lincoln's room. They were caught!

Lori shook her head. "He's not even familiar with his own room."

"Totally bogus!" Luna gritted her teeth. "If Lynn wasn't so _rough_ with him, none of this would have happened!"

"I'd like to give that sweaty pig a _lesson!_ " said Lola, cracking her knuckles.

"Calm down!" cried Leni. "We can't get mad at Lynn. She lost control, but we _all_ make mistakes! Getting back at her won't do anything. Right now, we should just, like, focus on helping Lincoln."

There was a pause as everybody considered Leni's proposal. She was pretty ditzy, sure, but sometimes, the fashionista made really good points. This was one of those times.

"Lynn probably already feels _terrible_ about it," continued Leni. "If we all work together, I'm sure we can do something to, like, help Linky regain his memory. We need to at least _try!_ "

Another pause, this time longer.

Lana smiled. "That… that's actually a really good idea, Leni."

"I like it," said Lucy, nodding.

"In that case, I hereby propose a sibling meeting." Lisa smiled. That was rare for her to do, almost so much so as Lucy. "During said meeting, we will discuss our plan on helping Lincoln regain his memories. I look forward to seeing you all in Lori's room after dinner."

* * *

Clyde McBride looked down at his phone and frowned.

He didn't text Lincoln often, but when he did, his white-haired friend usually responded quickly. Today, though, that was not the case.

 **7:21 AM:** _hey, buddy. wanna hang today?_

 **9:02 AM:** _lincoln?_

 **11:45 AM:** _there's a 2 for 1 deal at the arcade. wanna go l8r?_

 **2:14 AM:** _link? you there, buddy?_

Sighing, Clyde stood up from his couch. He decided that he'd give Lincoln a visit in person. Half of him decided this because was bored and wanted to do something with a friend, but the other half of him did this because he felt concerned for Lincoln. It was not like him to leave him hanging this long.

The outdoors were cold, and wind brushed past Clyde, causing him to shiver. _Michigan_ , he thought. _Do you_ have _to insist on trying to kill your residents with frostbite?_

Eventually, the McBride boy reached the Loud residence. Surprised, Clyde saw Lincoln sitting on a bench on his front porch.

"Hey, buddy!", Clyde called, approaching the house.

Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "Uh, hi."

"You busy?" said Clyde, now in front of Lincoln. "Wanna head down to the arcade?"

"Are… are you a friend of mine?"

Clyde frowned. Why was Lincoln playing dumb? If this was a joke, it was a bad one.

"Uh, yeah? I'm your best friend, dude. Clyde McBride! Do you not recognize me? It's the haircut, isn't it?"

"Sorry, Clyde," said Lincoln. When he said 'Clyde', he drew the word out a bit longer than he should have. To the McBride boy, it sounded as if Lincoln was unfamiliar with the name, almost as if he was saying for the first time. "My memory… it's really foggy right now. I guess I hit my head on a rock or something, but it's going to be awhile before things go back to normal. I… I don't know who you are."

Clyde gasped. He was surprised that Lincoln was sent to the hospital.

"You know, it's funny," continued Lincoln. "You say that I'm your best friend. You probably remember hundreds of times we hung out, got in trouble together, and had a good time with one another." Lincoln's voice began to trouble. "B-But… to me… you're a complete stranger. It's… it's just… so… sad..."

Lincoln brought his head down, covering his face in his hands. He sniffled; this was not easy for him.

Clyde walked up to his friend, and sat down next to him.

"Hey, Lincoln," he said, patting his white-haired friend on the back. "Would you like me to tell you about those times we got in trouble together? You're one crazy person, dude, so there's a lot, _trust_ me." The nerd chuckled.

Lincoln brought his head up, and smiled. "Yeah… I'd like that a lot, Clyde."

"Well, for starters, there was this time that you drew this comic. Did you know that you're an amazingly talented artist? Anyway, we were going to submit it to a contest, but then principle Huggins, the old, strict guy that runs our school, took it away from you. We did some _crazy_ stuff to break out of detention and get the comic to the mail in the time, _believe_ me." Clyde grinned. "Get comfortable, buddy. This is going to take awhile."

The two friends sat outside for quite some time. Hours flew by like minutes as Lincoln learned about himself, laughing nearly the entire time.

* * *

"Ever since our male sibling's unfortunate head injury, he had shown every sign of severe memory loss." Lisa adjusted her glasses.

The Loud sisters (of course, with the exception of Lynn, who was grounded) were gathered inside of Lori's room for an emergency sibling meeting; some laid on either her or Leni's bed, some stood, some sat on the ground. Everybody, however, paid close attention to Lisa and what she was saying. If there was anyone that knew how to help Lincoln, it was her.

"Lincoln's lost memories seem to be focused around people and places," continued Lisa. "Fortunately, he still remembers basic things like how to eat and use a fork, as we saw at dinner a few minutes ago."

"So, what can we do to help him get his memory back?", asked Luan. "Can we just around and wait?"

Lisa shook her head. "No. In fact, simply waiting for Lincoln's memories to come back to him would be very disadvantageous; time is of the essence. The best thing we can do is try to remind him of the most momentous events about us, preferably ones within the last year. Any ideas?"

There was a brief pause.

"Maybe the time we all planted a tree in the backyard together?", suggested Lana.

"That's a start," said Lisa. "But, we're going to need even stronger memories than that."

Leni twiddled her thumbs. "Remember when we all got into a fight for a few days and had to start the sister fight protocol? Like, we dumped dirty laundry on Lincoln, drew on his bedsheets without asking, and we didn't let him in the kitchen or bathroom."

Lucy sighed. "We didn't let him watch TV, either, even though nobody else was using it."

Lori shook her head in shame, recalling the time that the entire family thought Lincoln was bad luck. "Yeah, looking back… it was pretty shitty of us to have done that to him."

"Still," said Lisa. "It's a strong memory. Anything else?"

"What about the time we made Lincoln sleep outside?", said Luna. "Or the time we made him wear a squirrel suit?"

Silence filled the room. Looking back at it, the Loud sisters were beginning to realize just how cruel they were to Lincoln during the 'luck' incident. They made him sleep in the _backyard,_ for Christ's sake.

"Why are so many of Lincoln's memories so _bad?_ ", said Lola, her voice shaking with guilt.

"What kind of sisters _are_ we?"


	3. Friends and Fists

**For the sake of the story, this takes place before the Santiagos moved out of Royal Woods.**

 **No, not all Lincoln's memories of his sisters are negative ones. But, when plagued with guilt, it can certainly feel that way from the perspective of the Loud girls.**

* * *

A new day, hoped the Loud sisters, would allow Lincoln to regain his memories.

Rare was it for anyone to wake up early in the Loud House. With 13 people living under the same roof, everyone did their best to get as much uninterrupted sleep as they could. Because of that, everybody usually slept in for as long as possible, not getting out of bed in the mornings until they absolutely had to.

Today, however, was different. Each and every Loud sister had awoken bright and early. They all stood outside of Lincoln's room, peeking in through the crack in his door, craning their necks in an attempt to get a good view of their brother. With nine people crowded around a small space, of course, this proved to be difficult.

"Lori, move your stupid butt!" whisper-yelled Lola, being mindful as to not wake up Lincoln. She was only a few feet away from him, after all.

"I'm trying," shot back Lori, "But it's hard to do when Luna is _literally_ right in front of me."

"Not cool, dude. I'm just trying to get a peek, too."

"Guys, calm down!" said Leni. "Linky is starting to wake up!"

She was right; Lincoln was beginning to stir in his bed. He soon sat up, rubbed his eyes, and reached over to his nightstand, grabbing his glass of water before taking a sip.

Luna, in front of the pack of sisters, knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in!"

Although the door was already open, Luna turned the doorknob to make it appear as if she and the rest of her sisters had not been spying on Lincoln. The musician opened the door all the way, and slowly walked inside.

"H-How are you feeling?"

Lincoln shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, I guess."

There was a pause.

"Lincoln… do you remember me?"

The white-haired boy frowned. "You're Luan, right?"

"I'm _Luna_ ," the musician said, her voice trembling. "I'm the one that plays a lot of instruments."

"Oh, God, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault."

There was another pause, the longest one yet. It was so awkward for both Lincoln and Luna. Neither really had any idea what to say.

"We'll help you through this, Lincoln," said Luna, breaking the silence. "You'll get your memories back eventually… I promise."

Nodding, Lincoln god out of his bed. "Thanks, Luna." He smiled. "Now, uh, mind if… if I get dressed?" His voice sounded uneasy, nervous.

"Uh, sure." Luna began to back up. Her little brother was acting shy and sheepish, almost like he was in a stranger's house. Of course, that was to be expected because of his memory loss, but, still, that didn't make it any less disheartening to see Lincoln acting like he was.

Now alone in the privacy of his room, Lincoln began to get dressed for the day, first putting on a pair of jeans before stretching to throw on one of his orange polo shirts. Although his memory was shot, Lincoln's sense of fashion remained.

Normally, when he came out for breakfast, Lincoln would do so in his underwear. It was much more comfortable, after all, and the 11-year-old wanted to stay comfy for as long as possible before he had to get ready for school.

Today, however, was different. Lincoln felt alien to his own residence. It was almost as if his own sisters, whom he had grown up all his life with, were complete strangers to him.

In his own house, he didn't feel at home.

* * *

Clyde knew that Lincoln was a good person. His best friend was always willing to help those in need; he put others before himself, and, sure, he may mess up every now and again (such as the time when he recorded and uploaded embarrassing moments of his sisters to win a video contest), but, still, everyone makes mistakes. What's important is that people learn from them, and Lincoln certainly did— he uploaded a much, much more embarrassing video of himself just to make up for it.

Why, then, did bad things happen to good people? Lincoln didn't deserve to lose his memory.

Clyde sighed. The world wasn't fair, but what could he do about it? Nothing.

 _Buzz, buzz._

The McBride boy felt a vibration in his pocket. He reached down to take out his phone, which greeted him with a text from Ronnie Anne.

 **Ronnie Anne | 9:02: AM:** _hey, wanna hang out with lame-o later today?_

Oh, no. Clyde knew that Ronnie Anne didn't yet know about his condition. It had happened only yesterday, and the Loud family was so busy trying to get Lincoln back to normal that they had not yet had time to talk to any of their friends about this. Clyde knew that if Lori told Bobby about it, then Bobby would tell his little sister— he was one of Ronalda's best friends, after all.

 **Clyde | 9:05 AM:** _uh, we need to talk_ , _meet at the park in 10 mins?_

 **Ronnie Anne | 9:06: AM** _uhh, ok? you better not waste my time, McBride._

After informing his parents that he was heading off, Clyde slipped on his coat and headed outside. The air was cold, and the wind stung the exposed skin of his hands.

 _Michigan,_ he thought.

Clyde had walked to the park dozens of times, so, naturally, his trip didn't last long. Once there, he saw Ronnie Anne sitting on a park bench, still wearing her helmet. Below her was her skateboard.

"You got here quick," Clyde said, approaching.

"You should learn to skate, McBride." Ronalda smiled. "I had a lot of fun teaching Lincoln… even though he puked a few times. Speaking of Lame-O, where is he?"

"Uh, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Lincoln, well, he…" Clyde gulped. He was going to tell her everything. Although she didn't know Lincoln as long as Clyde, Ronnie Anne was still just as good as a friend, so she deserved to know the truth.

"His memory, is, well, really messed up right now. He didn't even know who I was when I visited him yesterday."

"Oh... wow." Ronnie Anne's voice faltered. She wasn't really an emotional person, but hearing that her best friend didn't even know who she was at the moment was no light information to be dumped on her. "How the hell did Lincoln of all people hit his head? His idea of fun is reading comics naked."

"He hit his head on a rock or something, that's all I really know. It happened two days ago, I just learned about it yesterday."

Ronalda cringed. She's been in enough skateboard accidents to know that landing on a rock did _not_ feel good. Lincoln hit his _head_ , and it must have been pretty hard, too, since his memory was shot at the moment. Ouch!

"I want to talk to Lame-O."

Clyde nodded. Yesterday, he had attempted to refresh Lincoln's memory by telling him stories of their escapades together. Although Lincoln couldn't remember anything, he seemed to enjoy hearing about his past. The McBride boy was sure that whatever stories Ronnie Anne could tell him would bring be most welcomed to his white-haired friend.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

Ronalda stood up and pulled her skateboard out from under the park bench with her foot. "You coming?"

"Naw, you should see him alone, first. I don't want to overwhelm him."

Nodding, Ronnie Anne mounted her skateboard. "In that case… smell ya' later, McBride."

* * *

In the master bedroom of the Loud house, the Loud family patriarch was brooding.

His son, as the doctor told them, suffered major injuries from Lynn's roughhousing. Apparently, she tackled him and then pounced on him during a football game; he hit his head pretty hard on a rock and was rendered unconscious.

Part of him told him that the incident was nobody's fault. Growing up in a family of thirteen, his children were bound to roughhouse and go too far at times. It was natural. Nobody was perfect, after all; children fought all the time, especially the ones closer in age.

Another, much bigger part of Lynn, however, believed that he had a large hand to play in Lincoln's condition. It made the father sick to know that this happened to his own child, in his own backyard, and to his own resolve. Where was he when the fight was taking place? Why did he not better teach his children not to go too far? What kind of a father was he to allow this to happen, for Christ's sake?!

One thing was for certain, though; he was going to do anything it took to get Lincoln back to normal again.

* * *

A big wave of warmth came over Ronnie Anne as she entered the Loud residence, getting away from the unforgiving cold of the outdoors. Lori had opened the door for her; the teen was the only Loud in the living room at the moment, and everyone else was elsewhere in the house doing their own thing. Anything to take their minds off of Lincoln's condition, even for just a few minutes, was welcome. The Loud sisters vowed to do anything in their power to help Lincoln back to normal, but they needed a break every now and then.

"Hey, Lori." Ronalda wiped her feet on the welcome mat on the living room ground.

The two made light conversation for a while. They spoke about school, the weather, and the local election. Eventually, though, Ronnie Anne popped the question.

"So, I heard Lincoln hit his head or something? His memory is fuzzy, right?

Lori gulped. Nobody wanted to be the bearer of bad news, but, _somebody_ had to tell Ronnie Anne what happened.

"Lynn, uh… she was a little too rough with him when we were playing football a couple of days ago. She tackled him and he hit his head on a big rock."

The teen looked on with Ronnie Anne with concern. Currently, with Lincoln's memories gone, it was Lori who knew the most about the Santiago girl. After all, it was rare for a day to go by without her having a conversation with Bobby, and her boyfriend often talked about his little sister. Like Lori, Bobby was close to his family.

Because of that, the eldest Loud sibling felt concerned. She knew that Ronnie Anne was rash, and often acted on impulse without fully thinking through the long-term consequences. Upon learning that it was really Lynn and her recklessness who was responsible for Lincoln's concussion, Lori half expected Ronalda to ball up her fists, head upstairs, and proceed to beat up the athlete.

Ronnie Anne didn't whip out a gun and run up to Lynn's room, though; all she did was nod slowly.

"Oh… wow."

Lori let out a sigh of relief that she didn't even know that she was holding, thankful that Ronalda was handling the news surprisingly well. It looks like Lynn wasn't going to be turned into a human pretzel anytime soon.

"I'm going to use your bathroom, Lori."

Ronnie Anne was calm— at the very least, she appeared that way. As the 11-year-old made her way up the stairs, however, that began to change. Her hands began to ball into fists. She gritted her teeth. Her steps became heavier, angrier.

Upon hearing that Lynn was responsible for Lincoln's concussion, Ronalda grew furious. How could Lynn be so rough with her own _little brother?_ Lincoln was the sweetest person Ronnie Anne knew. And, all over a stupid _football game?_

She hid her rage, however. Ronnie Anne didn't want to make a scene. Not yet.

Now, at the top of the stairs, the Santiago girl stood in front of Lynn's doorway. She took a deep breath.

Ronnie Anne kicked down Lynn's door, and, wasting no time, power walked over to the athlete, who was sitting on her bed. Rolling up her sleeves as she went, Ronnie Anne did not delay; she grabbed a surprised Lynn, and, exerting all of her strength, swung her off of the bed and into her wall, right below her window. Lynn slammed into the wall hard, causing the room to shake and her window to crack.

The athlete was upside down. Her head was on the ground, and her legs were stretched in the air. She was in a daze, her vision blurry. Was this what Lincoln felt like when she tackled him?

"You're _dead,_ sporty"

Lynn's vision was beginning to return to normal, but as she did, she saw Ronnie Anne coming back at her. Quickly, Lynn rolled to the left, just as Ronalda gave a firm kick in her direction. Luckily for the athlete, she had dodged just in time; Ronnie Anne's foot hit the dresser, and she cursed as she grabbed her foot in pain.

"What the hell, Santiago!" cried Lynn, standing up. Unsurprisingly, she was sore from being flung into her own dresser.

"What you did to Lincoln was sick. I'm going to have to knock some sense into you." The Santiago girl cracked her knuckles and gritted her teeth.

"Oh, it's _on."_


	4. Fear and Uncertainty

_This is your fault, Lynn,_ thought the athlete as she threw a punch at Ronnie Anne. Her strike connected, causing Ronalda's head to sway to the side.

 _Lincoln's memory is all messed up because of_ you. _No one else._ The athlete didn't falter in her attack— while Ronnie Anne's head was still turning, Lynn threw another punch, this time to the gut.

 _You're a horrible sister. You don't deserve such a kind little brother like Lincoln._ Wasting no time, Lynn opened her palm, grabbed the Santiago girl's face, and thrust her head back into the wall.

The room shook and Ronalda cried out in pain. The Hispanic girl slowly slid down the wall and onto the floor. She tasted nothing but the bitter tang of blood.

Lynn looked down at Ronnie Anne. Realizing just how hard she had attacked, the Loud froze in place. _Oh, no._ What did she just do?

Concerned that she had gone too far (yet again!), Lynn extended an arm down to her visitor.

"Hey… you good?"

Ronnie Anne did not respond.

"Hey! Talk to me!"

Ronalda's eyes opened. Tried to get up, but faltered and fell back to the floor, letting out a groan of pain in the process.

The door burst open, and the entire collection of Loud siblings rushed into the room. Lincoln was in front.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?!"

* * *

Lynn's mind was in a different place.

Over the next couple of hours, her mother had rushed in her room and yelled at her for twenty minutes in front of Ronnie Anne. She then called the Santiago mother and forced Lynn to give a formal apology on the phone. Of course, the young Hispanic girl didn't get off easy, either. Although she was on the other side of the room when it had happened, Lynn still heard Ronnie Anne's mother screaming at her over the phone. She'd no doubt be in a lot of trouble when she returned home.

Even though it was Ronalda who started it, Lynn's mother simply lead her to the door, saying that it was not her place to punish her.

Despite all that was happening to her, Lynn went through the entire ordeal without really even paying attention to it. It wasn't because she was in pain— the athlete had suffered much worse from sports. It was because Lynn, as much as it pained her to admit it, knew deep down that she _deserved_ all of her punishments.

Sure, Ronnie Anne had started it, but Lynn was older and stronger than her. After being thrown on the wall for the first time, Lynn went _way_ too hard on the Santiago. She smashed the poor girl's head into the wall, after all!

Now, it was night time. The last of the Loud children were wrapping up their nightly preparations for bedtime. Of course, the atmosphere was much different than normal. With Lincoln's memory loss, and Lynn's fight, how _could_ it be normal?

She was grounded to her room, but that wasn't going to stop Lynn from trying to make things right. She was way too rough with Lincoln. She was way too rough with Ronnie Anne. Well, that ended now! It was time to make things right.

With a newfound confidence, Lynn jumped out of her bed, and walked into the empty, dark hallway. Looking at the crack under Lincoln's door, she saw that his light was still on.

Being careful not to make any noise (she was supposed to be grounded to her room for at least the following month), Lynn made her way down the hallway. Once at Lincoln's door, she carefully turned the doorknob, paranoid of making too much noise. She couldn't alert anyone that she was out of her room.

Once there was a crack of space in Lincoln's door, Lynn was able to peek in. Lincoln was sitting on his bed. In his hands was a family photo album. Lynn looked at his face. Was… was that a tear in his eye?

" _Hey, Link!_ " she whispered.

Lincoln's head shot up. He quickly closed the photo album and threw it across the room.

Opening the door all the walk, tiptoeing inside, and closing it behind her, Lynn looked at her brother. This was the moment of truth. It was time to apologize to Lincoln, not just for making him lose his memory, but also for losing her control again and beating up one of his best friends.

"Look, I'm sorry about… well, everything. I'm sorry about knocking you out. I'm sorry about—"

"Get out," he quietly said.

Did she hear him right? Did he really just tell his own sister to leave when she was trying to _apologize?_

"What…? Lincoln, it's _me_ —"

"I don't care _who_ you are! Get away from me!" Lincoln said, louder. His tone carried a certain weight that it had never before.

"Linc—"

"Get _away!_ " The white-haired boy swung his arm out, pointing to the door.

Overcome with emotion, Lynn ran out of her brother's room and didn't look back.

* * *

Come Monday, while the rest of the Loud siblings prepared for school by completing their morning routine, Lincoln was still in his bed. Although his memory of academic subjects didn't suffer much, it was still pointless for him to go to Royal Woods Elementary is he didn't know his schedule, his locker combination, or any of his peers or teachers.

He reflected on the events of last night. He had been minding his own business when he felt his room shake. Curious, and a bit scared, he had left his room to investigate. Soon enough, after following the rumbling, he and his sisters had gone into Lynn's room only to find her fighting with another girl, one that Lincoln did not know.

It was explained to him by the sister called Luna that Lynn was fighting none other than Ronnie Anne, one of his best friends. Lincoln could only wonder to himself why the people he knew were so violent.

After that, 'Lynn' had come into his room later that night trying to apologize. Lincoln did not want to hear it. He acted tough, speaking with authority when he told Lynn to go away. The truth was, though, that he was _scared_. He wanted Lynn to leave because he was unsure if things would escalate again and, for the third time that weekend, his athletic sister would beat somebody up again, that person being Lincoln himself.

All day that day, Lincoln stayed in his room, trying to make sense of things.

* * *

When Clyde heard of the news, he was on his couch watching Ace Savvy and feeling bad for himself that Lincoln and him would not be able to watch their favorite show together anytime soon like they so often did. He felt sick to his stomach as he considered the fact that there was a chance that Lincoln would never again know who Clyde was. Their long history together would become meaningless. Their friendship that they had spent years building would be ruined.

He was shocked when Ronnie Anne told him everything that had happened over the phone. She and Lynn getting into a fight was _not_ what Clyde expected to happen during a simple visit of hers to the Loud household. Sure, the Santiago was rough around the edges, but getting into a fight with one of Lincoln's sisters was not what Clyde expected to ever happen. Of course, Clyde knew that under the circumstances, anything was possible. With Lincoln in the state that he was… the McBride boy knew he needed to stop being surprised.

Anger grew inside of him. Why did such bad things happen to such good people? Why was this brought on by one of Lincoln's own _sisters_ of all people? Lincoln was possibly the kindest boy Clyde knew. Why _him?_

One of Dr. Lopez's biggest lessons was that anger was only a good emotion as long as Clyde was able to channel it into something good. Rather than jumping off of his couch and smashing his television, Clyde instead thought of what he could do to help.

An idea popped into his head. It would take a lot of work, but, thinking about it, Clyde knew that it was worth a shot. Wasting no time, he got to work.


	5. Progress and Recovery

Laid out on the floor in front of Lincoln was a set of flashcards. On the front of each one was a picture of one of his sisters, and on the back was their name. The white-haired boy studied diligently and with purpose. He _hated_ not knowing who his family was.

The entire memory loss incident, in fact, has been tough on Lincoln. Just in the past couple of days, he had seen fights been sparked because of it. He knew he wasn't directly responsible, but if it weren't for him and his condition, Ronnie Anne and Lynn wouldn't have slugged it out.

He looked at the next flash card. The sister wore a purple skirt and a purple shirt with a skull on it. Her hair was short and brown, and her boots were tall.

 _Uhhh… Luan?_

Unsure, Lincoln flipped the card over, revealing the true name: LUNA.

He gritted his teeth in rage. Hours of practicing had gone by, and he _still_ wasn't sure of the names of his own family members. Sure, he had only flipped two letters around, and he was getting closer to learning all of the names correctly, but what did it matter? His siblings might as well be strangers.

He didn't know it, but he had begun to sob lightly, pulling his legs to his stomach and squeezing them tight.

A knock on the door arrested his attention. "C-Come in."

One of his sisters came in and shut the door behind her. She knelt down next to Lincoln, and as hard as he tried to remember, he couldn't recall her name. This only made him cry harder.

"What's wrong?" she asked sweetly, putting her hand on Lincoln's back.

"T-This whole thing, is… it's just a mess. I hate it. I hate not remembering anything."

His sister frowned. "Yeah, it's pretty tough… I don't think anyone around here is enjoying it." She paused. "You're… you're not blaming yourself, are you?"

Lincoln was silent.

"You are, aren't you?" She sighed. "Lincoln, you're being too hard on yourself. You—" She spotted the flashcards. Lincoln's sister picked one up, turning it around in her hands, studying it, genuinely impressed. "Wow, what are these?"

"Flashcards."

"You're trying really hard," she continued, coming closer to Lincoln. He felt a bit weird having a stranger in his mind come so close to him, but, reminding himself who she really was, Lincoln allowed himself to enjoy the warmth, love, and compassion she offered.

"Seriously, don't beat yourself up over this. It won't solve anything." Her voice suddenly grew more serious. "Lincoln… I love you."

"I…" He smiled. "I love you too."

He wanted to address her by name, but he didn't _know_ her name. Before his sister's little pep talk, this fact would have angered him. Now, though, Lincoln only scooted closer, returned the hug, and remembered her advice: _It's not your fault._

* * *

"Who's fault _is_ it?"

This is the question that Lynn posed to her friend, Amber Highwater. Sitting on the bed, on her phone (a regular Lori, huh?), the Loud family athlete had called up her friend to vent. It was morning, right before she had to go to school. Lynn's breakfast sat on her nightstand; she couldn't stand to eat in front of her family. Not for a while.

For the past twenty minutes, Lynn had been telling her about her incident with Lincoln. She considered herself tough, but it really hurt Lynn to relive the day she tackled him to the ground, making his head hit against a rock.

" _I… I can't say for sure. But it's not your fault, Lynn._ "

"What do you _mean_ it's not my fault? I tackled him!"

" _Yeah, but did you know he'd get hurt?_ "

"Uh, no. Obviously not. If I did, he wouldn't be studying sister flashcards right now."

The last four words were hard for Lynn to get out. When she had peeked through the crack in Lincoln's door, and saw him studying flashcards with the Loud siblings on them, her heart broke. Even without his memories, Lincoln was still the kind, compassionate, and caring brother she knew. She wanted nothing more than to go in his room and give him a big hug, cry into his shirt, and apologize… not just for making him lose his memory, but for not being the sister he deserved.

But, no. She couldn't do it. One, if Lincoln saw her again after she had beaten the living daylights out of Ronnie Anne, he'd freak out. Two… Lynn didn't think that even _herself_ was ready to face Lincoln. She'd break down. She needed to be _strong_ for him. He deserved it.

" _Lynn, people make mistakes,_ " Amber's voice said from over the phone. " _Feeling sorry for Lincoln won't help much… you want him to get better, don't you?_ "

If Lynn could strangle Amber through the phone, she would have. "Of _course!_ What kind of a question is that?"

" _I doubt this will last forever… be patient. In the meantime, sulking won't do anything. The best thing you can do right now is make sure Lincoln has an amazing big sister to come back to when he snaps out of this trance thing he's in. Right?_ "

Amber was right. Lynn needed to _improve._ Her egotistical, overly competitive attitude is what dragged Lincoln into this mess. She'd have to fix that.

"Thanks for the talk, Amber. See you at pr—"

Wait. Lynn _wouldn't_ see Amber at practice. She was grounded. Right.

"See you later, Amber." With that, she hung up the call and started to think.

* * *

Luan didn't mind school. Her friends often complained, in detail, about how much they hated it. Bleh.

Luan wasn't much of a fan herself, but she didn't _despise_ the place. Sure, it got annoying when Mrs. Jones administered a pop quiz or when she got loaded with homework from Mr. Bernie. Still, it wasn't _torture_ or anything spending time at Royal Woods High.

But, today, it was.

Lincoln was on her mind. Luan saw firsthand when her brother's head collided with the rock. She was screaming when it happened. Since the incident, it replayed constantly in her head. It just wouldn't _leave,_ no matter how much Luan wanted it to go, and, trust her, she wanted it to go away _badly_.

She wanted to forget the whole thing, at least for the school day. But it wouldn't. It distracted her. It tormented her. It ate away at her.

 _I should have helped,_ she thought, but then quickly dismissed the notion. There was nothing she could have done. Lynn was quick. To quick. Even if Luan knew what was about to happen, she would be powerless to stop it.

"Richard Nixon was the first and only president to resign," the teacher droned.

Luan could barely pay attention. Not helping matters was the fact that, presently, she was in history, her _worst_ subject. She was a good student, she really was! But, sometimes, her mind wandered out of the classroom without her even realizing it. Today was certainly no exception. The image of Lincoln's head hitting the rock was burnt in her mind.

He was lucky to have passed out! Luan couldn't even begin to _imagine_ the pain if he was conscious.

"Luan?" asked the teacher.

She jumped a little in her seat, having a mini heart attack. Sitting in the back of the classroom, she could see students begin to turn around and look at her.

Hot embarrassment surged through Luan, her cheeks turned light red. "Uh, w-what was the question?"

The teacher sighed. "Next time, Luan, pay attention. I asked what protesters chanted against Lyndon Johnson."

 _Lyndon Johnson,_ she thought. Wow, the first part of his first name was the same as Lynn's. This reminded Luan about Lynn… and what she did to Lincoln.

Wait, what was the question again? Something about chanting?

"Uhh… I don't know. Sorry."

Once again, Luan's teacher let out a sigh. "The correct answer was, 'Hey, hey, LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?'"

 _How many kids did you kill today?,_ Luan thought. Oh my God. Lincoln could have _died._ The head is a weak thing, after all… if he hit it harder, or in a different place…

Luan excused herself to the bathroom to catch her breath.

* * *

Lisa Loud did _not_ like Clyde McBride.

He was like a second version of Lincoln, just a worse one. Take every negative quality about Lisa's brother—his nerdy addiction to comic books, his dorkiness, his obsession with Lori (okay, maybe not that last one—that was exclusive to Clyde… Lisa prayed), and boom! You have Clyde McBride.

Why, then, had she agreed to meet with him at his house?

She didn't know. Maybe it was because at this point, she was desperate for any fix to her brother's memory issue she could get. Her own research had turned up fruitless. She worked with chemicals… she was a scientist. The brain was the most complicated organ in the body. As smart as she was, Lisa knew little about it. Neurological jazz was just out of her field.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice," he said. "I'd have come over to your place… but… uh… I don't think I'm ready to see Lincoln again just yet. Not in… not in his current state."

Lisa held up her hand. "No, no. It's fine. Now, why did you summon me?"

Clyde took a bite of cookie. The two were sitting in the McBride living room. Clyde's parents had baked snickerdoodles on the fact Clyde had told them he was having a friend over. When they saw Lisa at the door, they were a bit confused as to why their son had invited over a four-year-old, and they were even more confused as to why Lisa had walked over by herself.

 _I didn't walk,_ she said. _I drove._

It was true. The McBride parents looked in their driveway, and, sure enough, Lisa's vehicle, the same one she used to deploy salt during winter storms with, was right there.

Howard had whistled. _You've got one heck of a ride, kid. It's basically a tank._

Presently, Clyde adjusted his glasses. "I called you over, well, because I have a plan to bring back Lincoln's memory, and I need _your_ help."

Lisa scoffed, uninterested. "What makes you think I'd lend _my_ assistance? Why not one of my other sisters? Surely, as older beings, they'd be a more suitable aid?"

"I need someone _smart._ You're the most intelligent person I know."

She chuckled. "I suppose that _is_ true."

"I also need someone with a vehicle. How fast can you drive that thing out there?"

Clyde told her his plan, and a devilish smile grew on her face.


End file.
